Monday Thoughts

A very good Monday to each and all of you. Here are a few things that are on my mind this afternoon.

I first want to wish BC hockey the best of luck in their Beanpot Championship match against Harvard tonight. After a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over BU last Monday this is the best chance BC has had to hoist the Beanpot Trophy in a few years. Hat’s off to Harvard for a victory last week over a Northeastern squad that went into the game as a clear favorite but hopefully it will be only BC fans who are taking their hats off tonight.

BC basketball had a very hard fought loss to Duke this past Saturday 90-80. The game clearly displayed the best and worst that the 2007-2008 Eagle’s hoop squad has to offer. As for the highlights, Tyrese Rice’s ability to make plays both penetrating to the rim and hitting shots from all over the court was apparent. BC’s energy and athleticism was also apparent with the 4 freshmen running all over the court. As for the lowlights, the Eagle’s inconsistency couldn’t have come at a worse time than it did late in the second half. Whether it was a result of Duke’s deep bench catching up with the Eagle’s traditionally thin bench or whether it was simply the #2 ranked Duke simply out playing BC I’m not sure. But what I am sure of is that the Eagle’s will need to face the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament to have the chance to beat Duke for the first time since 1985. The Duke winning streak over the Eagle’s has now replaced Miami’s former football winning streak as the biggest “monkey on the back” in BC sports.

The race for the Democratic Nomination for President continues to heat up. It appears that the rest of February will continue to favor Illinois Senator Barack Obama with a combination of caucuses, whose structure has proven to favor the traditionally more zealous Obama supporters, and votes in areas with large numbers of African Americans. The looming March 4th Texas and Ohio Primaries are New York Senator Hillary Clinton’s next and best opportunities to lock up huge numbers of delegates. But as this primary and caucus cycle has proven so far merely winning a state does not guarantee separation from the other candidate because of the proportional distribution of delegates based on the congressional districts of each state. Look for the race to remain “too close to call” through the 22nd of April when the Pennsylvania Primary is held.

If you are looking for something to do this Friday or Saturday night I’d highly recommend you head over to Jamaica Plains to check out the Footlight Club Community Theater’s production of Neil Simon’s “rumors.” The two and a half hour non-stop comedy will leave you laughing and glad you invested the mere $20 ticket price. The Footlight Club is actually America’s oldest community theater and you can read more about them at www.footlight.org.

Three days until….no not Valentine’s Day but rather until pitchers and catchers must report to Red Sox Spring Training in Ft. Myers! It might not seem like it with the frigid single digit temperatures we are “enjoying” today in Boston but spring is on its way!